Rami's Readings #83 - AI Ethics Pioneer Abhishek Gupta R.I.P.
The latest on the Memorial for AI Ethics Pioneer Abhishek Gupta, LLMs, Whisper, WordPress Drama, China, and more.
Welcome to Rami’s Readings #83 - a weekly digest of interesting articles, papers, videos, and X threads from my various sources across the Internet. Expect a list of reads covering AI, technology, business, culture, fashion, travel, and more. Learn about what I do at ramisayar.com/about.
On a personal note, this week was exceptionally tough. Our family experienced the loss of a beloved family member in Bulgaria, and we are leaning on each other for support and comfort. This loss was also compounded by the following…
🤖 AI Reads
I am deeply saddened to share that my close friend, Abhishek Gupta, passed away on September 30th. Abhishek and I were friends since our time at McGill University. Abhishek was not just a brilliant mind in the Montréal Tech and AI community; he was a true pillar who dedicated himself to advancing the field, particularly in the area of AI Ethics. His contributions over the past several years have left an indelible mark, not just within our community but across the global landscape of AI research and development.
Abhishek’s passion for ethical AI was unmatched. He tirelessly worked to foster discussions and build frameworks at BCG and The Montréal AI Ethics Institute that would guide the responsible use of artificial intelligence. Many of us have learned from his insights, his integrity, and his unwavering commitment to making technology serve humanity in the most ethical way possible.
Beyond his professional achievements, Abhishek was a compassionate, kind-hearted individual whose friendship and support touched many lives. His presence will be sorely missed - I can’t believe he’s gone.
If you’d like to attend the memorial in Montréal, please reach out to me by directly replying to this email or to Renjie Butalid on LinkedIn.
OpenAI Releases Whisper Turbo
Notes: This release dramatically speeds up the large-v3 model!
AI Can Only Do 5% of Jobs, Says MIT Economist Who Fears Crash
Notes: Professor Acemoglu is not wrong… Too many companies are trying to build their own GPU clusters and their own LLMs (WHY!?!) without a strategy that will increase value to their firms.
RLEF: Grounding Code LLMs in Execution Feedback With Reinforcement Learning
Notes: Great paper from Meta AI!
LLMs Know More Than They Show: On the Intrinsic Representation of LLM Hallucinations
Notes: Interesting implications for hallucinations.
Liquid Foundation Models: Our First Series of Generative AI Models
Notes: Founded by a CSAIL MIT professor.
💼 Business Reads
Matt Mullenweg: ‘WordPress.org just belongs to me’
Notes: The latest WordPress drama is extremely concerning. I was a heavy user of the open source WordPress project (running my website for many years on it). I contributed a number of plugins, spoke at WordPress conferences, and helped many organizations build WordPress-powered websites. This is just fishy:
Even though the WordPress Foundation controls the platform’s trademark, the commercial rights for that trademark are licensed to Automattic. That means Automattic can charge other companies for using the WordPress trademark for commercial purposes — and that’s where Mullenweg has been able to exert pressure on WP Engine.
WordPress would not be where it is today without the direct and indirect contributions of both commercial entities and Indie developers. Mullenweg is basically showing that he alone gets to decide what is a sufficient contribution to WordPress - else face a lawsuit. Yuck. 🤮 The fact that a significant number of the WordPress Ecosystem team quit does not bode well for the future of the WordPress community.
It’s Time to Stop Taking Sam Altman at His Word
Notes: Worth a read.
Schools Make Millions Offering Degrees That Double as Work Visas
Notes: I never understood how Day 1 CPT programs were legitimate. Regardless, the real issue is the inefficiency in the underlying US immigration system itself.
Here’s How Bad China’s Economy Really Is. Can It Be Fixed?
Notes: Great summary of many of the economic issues (including some covered in this newsletter).
First Taste of a 40-Year-Old Japanese Whisky That Costs $35,000
Notes: It’s not too late for a birthday present.
Signing off from Redmond.